A. P. Psychology

I. Psychology’s Roots

A. In the beginning...there was Wilhelm Wundt.

Established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig,

Germany (1879).

He wanted to study the "atoms of the mind".

Theory of Structuralism – a combination of subjective emotions and objective sensentation

a. Psychology was seen as the science of mental life.

b. Wundt focused on introspection (self-examination).

B. Psychology evolved from philosophy and biology.

William James (1842-1910) – Developed the Principles of Psychology.

a. Theory of Functionalism – how structures identified by Wundt function in our lives.

II. Psychology Develops as a Science.

A. Sigmund Freud (1855-1939) – Psychoanalytic Theory

a. Anxiety and tension are caused by repression.

B. John B. Watson – Behaviorist Theory
   1. Dismissed introspection
   2. Redefined psychology as the science of observable behavior

C. The 1960’s
1. Combined observable behavior with inner thoughts and feelings.
   2. Psychology seen as a science of behavior and mental process
3. Is psychology based on opinion, hunches, predictions?
* Yes, but all put to the scientific test.

Psychology has content --how the body and mind connect.

III. Psychology’s Big Issues

A. Stability verses Change
* Do we change as we grow older?

B. Rationality verses Irrationality
* Are we really wise? (we are rational beings)
     - We process millions of perceptions.

* However, we are prone to err

C. Nature verses Nurture
* Do our human traits develop through experience, or do we come
             equipped with them?

* How does Darwin’s theory of natural selection play here?
     - We evolve/grow based on experience.

IV. Psychology’s Perspectives

A. Neuroscience
- How the body and brain create emotions, memories, and

sensory experience.

B. Evolutionary
- How nature selects traits that promote the perpetuation of one’s
            genes.  Survival.

C. Behavior genetics
- How our genes, and our environment, influences our individual
            difference.

D. Psychodynamics
- How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

E. Behavioral
- How we learn observable responses.

F. Cognitive
- How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.

G. Social-cultural
- How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

V. Perspectives need not contradict, but can be complementary .

    Basic Science ................................................Humanities
(Objective Observation)                             (Subjective Observation)

         A. Psychology lies near the middle of continuum.
                   * Uses scientific methods to explore
                        thoughts, feelings and actions

B. Each perspective has its questions and its limits.

Psychology does not have answers to ultimate questions, but it does

help us to understand the way we think, feel and act.
- It is both fascinating and useful!

VI. Psychology’s Sub-fields

A. Basic Research
1. Biological Psychologist
     - explore links between brain and mind

2. Developmental Psychologist
     - changing abilities from womb to tomb

3.  Cognitive Psychologist
     - how we perceive, think, and solve problems

4.  Personality Psychologist
     - investigate inner traits

5.  Social Psychologist
     - how we view and affect one another

B.  Applied Research
1. Industrial/organizational psychologist.
   * advise on behavior in workplace.

2. Clinical
a. Psychologists - study, assess, treat troubled people.

b. Psychiatrist - often provide therapy, but are medical doctors
                          and can prescribe drugs.

The Limits of Intuition and Common Sense.

A. Hindsight Bias (aka – 20/20 hindsight vision)

1. Common sense describes what has happened more easily than it predicts what will happen.

2. Research has overturned many popular ideas

B. Overconfidence

1. We tend to think we know more than we do.

2. Are we better at predicting our social behavior?

The Scientific Attitudes.

C. When put to the test, can predictions be confirmed?

1. Requires being skeptical but not cynical, open but not gullible.

2. Requires humility.

• i. Early psych. Motto: The rat is always right.
• ii. Can’t cling to preconceptions.

D. Critical Thinking.

1. Examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, assesses conclusions.

• i. Surprising Findings, pg. 18

E. The Scientific Method

1. Theory

• i. Not just a hunch.
• ii. Organizes and predicts observable behavior and events.

2. Hypotheses.
       i. Testable predictions.

3. Must have clear operational definitions of concepts to allow others to replicate.

4. Test hypotheses and refine theories.

• i. Make observations that describe behavior.
• ii. Detect correlations that help predict behavior.
• iii. Do experiments that help explain behavior.

Description.

F. The Case Study.

• i. Study one or more individuals in great depth in hope of revealing things true in all of us.
• · very revealing
• · can mislead (individuals may be atypical)
• · anecdotal cases can alarm/overwhelm truth

G. The Survey.

1. Surveys ask people to report behavior and opinion.

i. Subjective bias

2. Wording Effects

i. aid to needy/welfare

ii. revenue enhancers/taxes

iii. government censorship/restriction of T.V. violence

3. Sampling.

i. False consensus effect.

· share particular belief with those we most associate with.

ii. Need to gather a representative sample of people.

iii. Select a target group (i.e. students)

iv. Random sample – every person in a group has an equal chance of participating.

v. Don’t over generalize (can be tempting).

H. Naturalistic Observation

1. Watching and recording behavior in natural environment.

Correlation.

I. Correlation coefficient.

1. Statistical measure of relationship (positive or negative).

2. Scatterplots

• i. Each point plots the value of two variables.
• ii. Negative correlation: two things relate inversely.
• iii. Weak correlation: little or no relationship (coefficient near zero).
• iv. Positive correlation: one set of scores increase in direct proportion to the other set of scores.

3. Perfect correlations rarely occur in the "real world."

4. Statistics help us see what the naked eye sometimes misses.

5. Correlations point us towards predictions, but usually imperfect ones.

6. Although the correlation coefficient tells us nothing about cause and effect, it can help us see the world more clearly by revealing the actual extent to which two things relate.

J. Correlation and Causation.

1. Do not assume correlation proves causation.

• · examples on page 26.

2. Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect relationship, but it does not prove causation.

K. Illusory Correlation.

1. A perceived correlation that does not really exist.

2. Explains superstitious belief

• · i.e. arthritic pain predicts weather.

3. We are sensitive to dramatic or unusual events.

• i. we are more likely to notice and remember two such events in sequence.
• · i.e. premonition of phone call followed by the call.

L. Perceiving Order in Random Events.

1. We have a natural eagerness to make sense of our world (rage for order).

2. We look for order and meaningful patterns where none exist.

· i.e. coin flipping (pg. 28).

3. With a large enough sample, any outrageous thing is likely to happen.

Experimentation.

M. To discern cause and effect, psychologist experiment.

N. Experiments enable researchers to focus on the possible effects of one or more factor by:

• 1. Manipulating the factors of interest.
• 2. Holding constant (controlling) other factors.

O. Unlike correlational studies, an experiment manipulates a factor to determine its effect.

P. Evaluating Therapies

• 1. Experiment.
• i. Participants are blind (uninformed) about what treatment, if any, they receive.
• ii. One group receives treatment.
• iii. Others receive a pseudo-treatment (placebo).

Q. Terms.

1. Double-Blind procedure – both research participants and research staff are ignorant (blind) about treatment or placebo.

2. Placebo Effect – any effect on behavior caused by placebo.

3. Experimental Condition – Condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

4. Control Condition – the condition of an experiment that contrasts with experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

5. Random Assignment – assign participants to groups by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences.

6. Independent Variable – the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being tested.

7. Dependant Variable – the experimental factor that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulation of the independent variable.

R. Example: Testing Viagra.

1. Experimental Condition – those who receive some dose of Viagra.

2. Control Condition – those who receive placebo.

3. Independent Variable – The drug Viagra.

• i. vary it independently of other factors, such as age, weight, etc., which random assignment controls.

4. Dependant Variable – behavior can vary depending on what takes place during the experiment (the men’s responses).

Statistical Reasoning.

S. Describing Data

1. Organize it (bar graph, etc.).

2. When viewing figures, read the scale labels and note their range.

T. Measures of Central Tendency

1. Mode – the most frequently occurring score.

2. Mean – arithmetic average, the total sum divided by the number of scores.

3. Median – the middle score (50^th percentile)

• i. half are above the median/have below the median.

4. The mode, median, mean often tell very different stories.

• i. the mean can be biased by a few extreme scores (skewed).

U. Measures of Variation.

1. Low variability is more reliable than high variability.

2. Range – gap between the lowest and highest scores.

• i. crude estimate of variation because a few extreme scores will create a deceptively large range.

3. Standard Deviation.

• i. gauges whether scores are packed together or dispersed.
• ii. Shows how much an individual score differs from the mean.

 

V. Making Inferences.

1. When is a difference reliable?

i. Representative samples are better than biased samples.

• a. know what population was sampled in a study.

ii. Less-variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable.

iii. More cases are better than fewer.

2. When is a difference significant?

• i. When it is reliable (see 3 points above)
• ii. Statistical Significance
• a. the difference we observe is probably not due to chance variation between samples.
• b. Further studies replicate differences.

3. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result will happen by chance. It does not indicate the importance of the result.

IV. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology.

Can Laboratory Experiments Illuminate Everyday Life?

1. A laboratory experiment enables a psychologist to re-create psychological forces under controlled conditions.

• i. does not re-create exact behaviors, but does test theoretical principles.
• ii. Principles derived in the laboratory do typically generalize to the everyday world.

Does Behavior Depend on One’s Culture?

2. Culture shapes behavior, influences standards, affects attitudes and tendencies.

3. Underlying processes across cultures are much the same.

Does Behavior Vary with Gender?

4. Gender issues do permeate psychology.

5. Women and men, despite differences, are overwhelmingly similar.

Why Do Psychologist Study Animals?

6. Human physiology resembles many animals.

7. Some experiments are only permissible with animals.

Is It Ethical to Experiment on Animals?

8. If we share important similarities, then we must show respect.

9. Debate – Is it right to place the well-being of humans above animals.

10. Our compassion for animals vary based on their perceived similarity to us.

11. A psychology concerned for humans and sensitive to animals serves the welfare of both.

Is It Ethical to Experiment on People?

12. Obtain informed consent of potential participants.

13. Protect from harm and discomfort.

14. Treat information about individual participants confidentially.

15. Fully explain the research afterward.

Is Psychology Free of Value Judgment?

16. Psychology is definitely not value-free.

17. Values affect what we study, how we study it, and how we interpret results.

Is Psychology Potentially Dangerous?

18. Knowledge, like all powers, can be used for good or evil.

19. Psychology addresses some of humanity’s greatest problems and deepest longings.